VOLTA12 Basel Nino Chubinishvili, Lado Pochkhua, Gio Sumbadze

13-18 June 2016

Post-Soviet Explorations combines the observations of three Georgian artists Nino Chubinishvili, Lado Pochkhua and Gio Sumbadze. Artists were born in Georgia during the Soviet period. Destruction of the Soviet Union, Western informational culture broke into Georgia and thus the life experiences of the artists. The process is still on going in Georgia. The research of archetypal, traditional and contemporary knowledge bears different forms for all three artists: research of classical forms and experiences becomes simulacra in Pochkhua’s works; Chubinishvili uses concrete objects with geometrical figures and associations connected with them as means of meditation; Gio Sumbadze researches the archeology of cities, the face of architecture and nature. In his drawings and photographs the artist presents things as documents which are on the verge of abstraction.

Multicultural information tides, aesthetic and anti-aesthetic experiences come together in the works of these three artists.

Nino Chubinishvili (B. 1969) based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Nino Chubinishvili has worked with such fashion houses as KENZO and Pierre Cardin. After graduating from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in the field of stage and costume design, Chubika has received different awards for costume design several times. In 2005-2006 the artist continued studying in Paris, at Institute Francais de la Mode. Chubika is as much part of the fashion world as she is part of the Georgian contemporary art scene. In 1990s she was a member of informal multimedia artistic group - GosLab. Chubika’s installations and art objects have been exhibited since 1990.

Lado Pochkhua is a Georgian artist who lives and works in New York. Pochkhua graduated from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts with a Master’s degree in Painting and Printmaking in 2001. Since then, he has lived and worked in different countries such as: Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Hungary and the United States. Pochkua has been gaining academic knowledge for years. He has been interested in the experience and style of classic painters. Different periods of his work were dedicated to practicing new techniques and media. The artist uses a technique of hand drawing, works in pen and ink often on a large-format. Presentation of classical images and style in new formats is a subject of his interest.

Gio Sumbadze's practice focuses on the research into the Soviet architectural heritage of Georgia and the post-Soviet region. The exhibition showcases the selection of works from Sumbadze's latest series around the research into the painting traditions in Kutaisi, Georgia, through the architectural heritage of the place.

Sumbadze uses photography as the means of documentation and through this media he observes how the painting tradition develops throughout the three institutions, while shifting the borders of the private and the public. He researches the archeology of cities, the face of architecture and nature. In his works real structures (ground surfaces, the walls of the buildings) are on the verge of abstraction. The maps of abstract, fictional places are created with architectural schemes and patterned mechanisms.